


A Simple Wish

by monkeyihihji



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), But he learns to be better, Childhood Friends, Derek Hale Needs a Hug, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Everyone Is Alive, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Stiles Stilinski, Promposal, Slow Burn, Time Travel Fix-It, pep rally
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29911971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monkeyihihji/pseuds/monkeyihihji
Summary: In less than seven days, his girlfriend had randomly broken up with him and kicked him out. He was forced to move back home to a family that seemed to not really want him. His bed was too small. And his former childhood best friend--who he just figured out he was in love with--was with someone else. Happy Birthday, Derek. It was a great week, really. The candle flickers and seems to mock him. He takes a deep breath and blows."I wish I could go back and fix this whole mess."
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	1. Derek "Irony" Hale

Irony is a funny thing. It’s funny in the sense that he is now standing in his old childhood bedroom staring at his bed and he feels uncomfortable. This room used to be his safe place, somewhere where the whole world would fade away and he could just be himself. Now? Well, he’s pretty sure that his bedsheets haven’t been washed since he graduated high school and he’s impressed he ever fit in the single bed in the first place. That being said, he still throws his bags on the bed as he takes a better look around his old room. 

There’s the books he didn’t take to college sitting on a bookshelf pushed against the wall near the window and he can see there’s a fine line of dust settling on the shelves. His closet door is properly closed which was never the case when he lived here. In fact, everything is clean which gives him the large impression that he’s sitting in an IKEA bedroom set up. His desk sits on the opposite wall of his bookshelf and he knows what he’ll find if he opens the bottom drawer. 

In odd jerky movements, he walks towards the desk like it could attack him at any moment. There’s a few framed pictures on the right hand corner and he smiles at the younger version of his family grinning back at him, but his stomach twists at the other photo of  _ her _ . She’s wrapped around his younger self and he’s--no. He shoves the picture frame face down on the desk. He doesn’t want to remember that. It hurts too much, so instead he goes for a different type of hurt and opens the bottom drawer. He won’t let himself hurt over her, but he’ll let himself hurt over him. Irony. It’s a bitch. 

It’s more of a junk drawer, really. It holds a bunch of trinkets and small things that he couldn’t part with over the years, but most importantly, it holds memories of Stiles. There’s a worn out baseball that they would play with. Walkie talkies when they went through their spy phase--he had tried telling Stiles that he’s a werewolf and walkie talkies were almost useless, but that didn’t stop the human from trying. There’s a few friendship bracelets made over the years too. Then there’s the pictures; different years showing the two of them on Halloween (the best year is when they went as the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood). Goofy photos taken by their parents at birthday parties, sleep overs, vacations together, there’s so many.

His favorites though are the old photo booth strips that come with four photos each. There’s well over ten, every single one with a different cringy border that Stiles chose. It was a tradition to cram themselves into the small booth every time they went to the mall. He likes the way he can see how the two mature throughout the different strips. They range from Stiles with a bowl cut and Derek wearing only GAP merchandise to pimply and oily faces with matching buzzcuts to baby faced high schoolers with hope in their eyes. His stomach not only twists, but his heart also burns at the sight of his past self with Stiles. He misses him. 

There’s a knock on the door and one of his sisters is standing in the doorway. “Great. You’re sad again.” 

Derek quickly shoves the keepsakes back in his drawer and closes it before standing up. “What do you want?” 

“Dinner’s ready, asshole.” Cora crosses her arms. “Mom sent me to come get you.” 

His stomach nearly moans at the sound of food and the scent of his favorite meatloaf wafts from the dining room downstairs. “I’ll be down in a second.” 

He watches his baby sister roll her eyes but she leaves all the same. There’s no hugs from her. No condolences. Just glares and animosity coming off of her in waves. He doesn’t need to be a werewolf to know that she’s mad at him and he doesn’t need to be a genius to know why. He follows her downstairs anyway, a weird sense of deja-vu coming over him. How many times did he do this before he left for college?

The table is set and his family is waiting for the two to sit down. Cora slides into her chair surrounded by their Mom and the visiting Laura. Derek takes his own seat on the other side of Laura and by his Dad. There’s an awkward silence, like no one knows what to do or say and he knows it’s because of him. His mom breaks the spell as she leans forward and dishes the food on her plate, followed by Cora, Laura, his dad, and then him. 

Derek honestly didn’t know what to expect when he came home. Part of him had hoped that there would be welcoming hugs and that the past five years would fizzle into the background like a bad dream. Maybe he just hasn’t woken up yet. It’s the first time he has sat down at this table since leaving for college and he feels more like a stranger than family. 

“So,” his dad clears his throat, “when do you have to go back, Cora?” 

“Classes don’t start back up again until January 6, so I’m probably going to chill here until the fourth?” She looks between their parents, “if that’s okay?” 

Unlike Cora, his mom waits until she swallows her food to speak. “Stay as long as you want, sweetheart.” 

“We appreciate the visits, y’know.” And his dad’s words aren’t directed at Cora. 

Derek suddenly isn’t hungry anymore and he pushes the food around with his fork, refusing to look up. Then there’s a nudge at his feet and he knows it’s Laura. God bless Laura. He looks to his older sister and she gives him a soft smile and the elephant in the room loses about five pounds. He thanks the universe that Laura isn’t as spiteful as the rest of the family. She’s his rock. She was the first person who he called after everything fell apart. She had let him cry into the phone and she was the one who encouraged him to call their mom. 

“So!” Laura chirps with so much charisma that Derek almost forgets all his problems. She’s good at taking negative energy and transforming it; it’s a good quality for the next Alpha in line to have. “Christmas is in two days and I thought we could all do something before to celebrate Derek’s birthday? Maybe go ice skating or see a movie like we did as kids?”

“Oh, we haven’t gone ice skating in forever!” His mom hums. “That sounds nice.” 

“Maybe we haven’t gone in forever because Derek basically ditched us.” Cora huffs. 

The air around the dinner table sizzles with tension. His mom rests her silverware down with a soft  _ ting _ and she looks at Cora. “Cora.” 

“What! It’s true! We only started existing again whenever his stupid girlfriend dumped him!”

“Cora.” The Alpha tone is clear in his mom’s voice. 

But the damage is done. The elephant in the room has now been acknowledged and there’s no going back. Cora is right and Derek hates to admit that. He did ditch his family the moment after he graduated. He went off to Berkeley without even a glance behind him, all he focused on was Kate. She took up his entire world and he never knew how small it had become until she broke up with him after five years. He had no other friends. A year out of college and nowhere to live. She kicked him out like a puppy and he had to run home with his tail between his legs. 

A home that moved on without him. Cora was in high school when he left and now she’s in her second year of college. Laura is married now and he feels like a huge asshole for missing her wedding. He remembers being invited but Kate got sick right before and begged him to stay home. He can’t give any excuses or try to make his decisions sound better because he knows what he did was shitty. 

“I never liked Kate.” His dad says suddenly. 

Derek sinks in his chair and wishes that his bedroom could be his safe space again. 

“To be fair, Dad. You never liked anyone Derek’s brought home.” And wow. Cora really hates him, doesn’t she? 

“Not everyone.” His dad helps himself to another serving. “I liked one.” 

“Both of you. Stop it.” His mom’s eyes bleed red and both his dad and sister bow their heads under her gaze. “We all don’t agree with his choices, but that doesn’t mean we shame him for them. Honestly, Michael, I expected more from you.” 

He can’t take it anymore. “Can we all stop talking like I’m not here?” 

“Sorry, we’re just so used to you not being here.” Cora quips back and there’s honest heat behind her words like she wants to lunge at him. 

“Look, I get it! I’m an asshole. A major asshole.” He throws his hands up, “I’ve apologized profusely. I don’t know what else to do. I don’t have to stay here. I can get a hotel.” Hell, that actually might be easier, but his funds are dwindling at the moment. 

“You aren’t getting a hotel.” His mom commands. 

Laura steps in, “You can stay with me and Markus if you’d like.” 

“No. He’s staying here.” His dad’s voice booms over the table. He may be human, but Michael Hale is still a force to be reckoned with. “He needs to learn to live with the consequences of his decisions.” 

“ _ My _ decisions, Dad?” It’s Derek’s turn to get heated. “Look, I made shitty decisions but don’t make me coming home sound like a consequence. When I called a few days ago, you and Mom sounded excited to have me move back home.” 

His dad levels him with a look that’s almost worse than his mom’s Alpha eyes. “You had everything going for you, Derek. Full ride scholarships. College basketball teams from all over the country wanted  _ you _ . And you ditched it all to follow a girl to the college she wanted to go to.” 

“I didn’t ditch anything, Dad! I still played for Berkeley!” He fails to mention how he quit his second year because Kate complained she wasn’t seeing enough of him. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was under the impression that it was your dream to go to the East Coast to play.”

It was. Derek had dreamed about that from the first moment he held a basketball. All his hard work on the court, all the late hours with Stiles tutoring him, all of it was to get into a great college in New York on a full-ride so he could still play. But then Kate came. She didn’t want him to move so far away and somehow convinced him that Berkeley was still a good school so he accepted the scholarship from there instead. 

Derek drops his father’s gaze. 

He hears his dad sigh. “Look, I’m sure you’re not proud of some of your decisions and you don’t need me yelling about them. Hey, can you look at me?” Derek feels like a child again compared to the young adult he actually is, but he still looks up. “You’re hurt, I know that. But we’re hurt too.” He gestures to their family. “We missed you and we  _ are _ glad you’re here, Derek. It’s just going to take some adjusting.” 

Derek’s not going to cry. He tells himself that, but his eyes do water just a bit. He nods his response, not trusting his voice, and shoves the now cold meatloaf in his mouth. Laura takes hold of the conversation and he’s too upset to focus on what she’s saying. He finishes his food as quickly as possible and excuses himself from the table. 

  
  


He finds himself back in his bedroom unpacking his bags. The only thing Derek took from his and Kate’s apartment are his clothes. He honestly didn’t want anything else. They had gone furniture shopping together with the thought process of making a home, but apparently she hadn’t thought the same way. 

Derek knew their relationship wasn’t the greatest. It was a high school relationship that transferred over to college so there was bound to be some issues, right? Honestly, looking back on it, he’s surprised that they survived as long as they did. She was clingy to the point of possessive, which at the beginning, Derek found cute. Obviously it became a problem though and the possessiveness cropped up issues with his family, but he still chose Kate over them. Why? He honestly doesn’t know. It was like she flipped a switch in his brain where she would tell him jump and he would ask how high.

Is it ironic--hey, there irony--that he doesn’t hurt as much as he thought he would though? He never in a thousand years thought they would break up, but when she cut the string between them, all he felt was hollow. There’s none of that movie-esque heartbreak that makes you crave ice cream and sad movies. Sure, he cried. He cried to Laura and to his mom, but reflecting on it now, he’s pretty sure that they were tears of relief. He’s relieved to be back and surrounded by his family. He misses Kate, but he’s not heartbroken by her. He’s more heartbroken by the things he did to his loved ones while with her. Like Stiles. 

Derek glances back towards the bottom desk drawer and the familiar pang of regret hits him. He wonders where Stiles is these days. They hadn’t talked since high school, ironically--maybe he should change his middle name to irony--right after Derek started dating Kate. They used to be inseparable and now he’s haunted with only memories. He knew that the human had his eyes set on a future in criminal justice and was planning on attending Berkeley, but Derek never saw him on campus. And he had made it a point to search for him.

He finishes putting his clothes away and he decides to lay on his bed. It’s an odd fit considering the muscle he’s bulked on over the years, but it does give him some odd sense of security. It had been a long day of moving back him and seeing his family again and his eyelids start to close automatically. His ears prick as he hears footsteps at the bottom of the stairs move their way up until they stop at his bedroom and he recognizes the heartbeat. 

Laura opens the door and doesn’t even ask before plopping on the bed beside him and it groans underneath their combined weight. “Hi.” 

He shifts so he’s leaning against the wall so she can have more room. “Hey.” He whispers even though he knows he doesn’t have to. 

“You okay?” Her scent fills his nose and his wolf yips happily. How the hell did he go so long without being near his Pack? 

He almost lies and says he’s okay, but he knows she’ll push until he tells the truth. “I just thought it would go smoother.” 

“You’ve ghosted us for five years, Derbear.” There’s no accusation in her tone unlike Cora or his dad.

“I know.” 

“Is it safe to say fuck Kate Argent?” 

His first reaction is to defend Kate but he stops himself. “Fuck Kate.” 

Laura smells of surprise and she giggles. She looks up at him and their noses are almost touching. They used to do this a lot as kids but eventually, they grew out of it. “Fuck Kate.” She agrees. “God. How did you even get with her? It’s like one day you didn’t even know her and then the next she’s all you talked about.” 

Derek sighs, remembering Kate from high school. She was popular, a cheerleader, and good looking. It made sense for him as the star of the basketball team to date her, but Laura is right. He barely even looked at her before she asked him out. 

“Prom.” It’s Cora who answers and she’s leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed. 

He automatically tenses and waits for a fight or yelling, but none of it comes. Instead, Laura pushes herself practically on top of Derek. “Come bond, baby sister.” 

“The bed barely fits both of you.” Cora comments but comes over nonetheless and sits on the space that Laura created. She looks at Derek, “I’m right though, huh?” 

“That the bed barely fits us?” Derek tries playing. He used to be the snarky big brother, he just needs to regain his status. 

“No, asshole.” It’s almost an affectionate tone this time though. “Kate asked you to prom.” 

Oh. “Yeah, it was after a pep rally one night and she stopped me before leaving.” He was actually on his way to hang out with Stiles that night, but when a pretty girl stops you, you have no choice but to pay attention. “Asked me to go to prom with her and no one else had asked me so I said yes.” After that, she invited him to an after party and he followed blindly. 

  
“You expect me to believe no one else asked you to prom?” Laura rolls her eyes. “Hard to believe.” 

Cora shakes her head, “I can tell you at least one person who was going to ask you.” 

This is news to Derek and he shifts so he has a better view of his sister, “who?” 

She sighs and stands up. “I’m going to bed.” 

Laura hums, “okay. I’ll see you at Christmas?” 

“Sounds good. Love you.” 

“Love you too.” 

She heads for the door, but Derek calls after her. “How many times do I have to apologize to you before you forgive me?”

Cora stops at the door and turns her head back towards him. “It’s not me you should be apologizing to.” And with that, she leaves. 

Laura tenses next to him and she slides back to Cora’s spot to cover it up, but it’s too late, Derek noticed. “What does she mean?” He’s still halfway sitting up and he props his head with his hand. 

“It’s Cora. I never know what she’s talking about.” Laura lies, he hears her heartbeat skip. She doesn’t even try hiding it either. 

“Laura.” Derek searches her green eyes for the answer. 

She sighs and mimics his posture. “I think you already know.” 

His heart clenches and he does. Stiles. The first person he hurt while with Kate. “He probably hates me.” 

“I don’t think Stiles Stilinski could ever hate you.”

Derek scoffs. 

Laura smiles and uses her superpower to change the conversation again. “So. How about just you and me celebrate your birthday tomorrow? We can go ice skating?” 

“What about Mom and Dad? Or Cora?”

“They have their own shit to get over.”

Derek agrees, he honestly has missed his sister. He lets his head rest against the pillow again and he feels Laura stand up. “Hey Laura?”

“Yeah?”

He looks up at her and realizes how much she looks like their mom. “Why don’t you hate me?” 

Sadness washes over his features and she runs a hand through his hair fondly. “Because, little brother, I remember what being in love feels like for the first time. Even toxic love is still a form of love.” She smiles at him and he finds himself smiling back. “Go to bed.” She whispers. 

His eye lids follow her command and they flutter shut. “Love you.” He mumbles into his pillow. 

“I love you too.” 

  
  


Derek hates that his birthday is on Christmas. As a kid, it used to be for selfish reasons of all his Christmas presents doubling as birthday presents, but as he got older, it started to be more of a hassle just celebrating in general around all the holiday cheer and parties. In middle school, he stopped advertising when his birthday was and by high school, the only friend that knew was Stiles. The human never failed to show up in his bedroom on Christmas morning and sing happy birthday with a small cupcake lit. It was the smallest gesture, but to Derek, it meant everything. 

It definitely meant more than skating with his sister, but he keeps that comment to himself as he laces up his skates. Laura had been so excited when she came to pick him up and honestly? He needed to get out of the house. His mom had been hovering around him and his dad smelt extremely guilty anytime Derek got near and he’s pretty sure it was because of last night’s dinner. Cora had ditched early to go hang with friends and Derek couldn’t blame her. Besides, it’s out of the goodness of Laura’s heart and after last night’s conversation, Derek feels even more appreciation towards her. 

Speaking of his sister, she’s already on the ice doing laps while glancing at him impatiently. Ice skating a few days before Christmas used to be a family tradition but it had already started fizzling out way before Derek left for college. He thinks the last time he had even worn skates was probably in eighth grade. He stands on wobbly legs and tries to ignore the smell of used feet from the bleachers as he hobbles over to the ice. 

The rink is surprisingly busy and Derek has to hold on to the edge a few times as kids zoom past him so he doesn’t fall down on his ass. Laura laughs at him as she glides on over and uses him to steady herself as she stops. 

“Come on, it’s like riding a bike.” 

He gives her his famous eyebrow look. “I’d much rather prefer that right now.” 

She laughs and it brightens his mood slightly. “I’ll hold your hand.” She offers her hand and he takes it gladly and starts pulling him. 

Laura’s right. Again. God, he hates how often she’s right. Soon, he has his feet underneath him and it’s exactly like riding a bike and he actually finds himself enjoying it. Laura must pick up on his chemosignals because she quickly lets go of his hand and speeds up. He takes it as a challenge and soon they’re chasing each other around the rink. 

He embraces the cold air whipping around his hair and ears and he compares it to family runs on full moons. God. He misses those too. He misses wrestling with his sisters and chasing after them in the Preserve and he suddenly can’t wait until the next full moon. There’s the familiar pang of guilt as he thinks about all the ones he missed, but the excitement wins out and he can only think about all the ones he’ll now join. 

He laughs out loud to himself and he can hear Laura giggling somewhere on the rink too. He’s actually enjoying himself and he can’t remember the last time that he did so. He speeds up more until the world around him is a blur of color and he can barely keep his skates straight on the ice. He’s thinking that this may be the best day that he’s had in awhile until a scent hits his nose. 

Vanilla and patchouli flood his senses and he suddenly doesn’t know which way is up until he lands hard against the ice. His wrist screams in protest and he feels a bruise already healing on his side, but he prays the healing process takes longer because it’s the only thing grounding him as he looks up to the owner of the scent. 

Hands are automatically around him helping him up which causes the warm musky spice to surround him more. “Dude, are you oka--Derek?” 

Derek lets himself be helped to his feet and he offers a weak smile. “Hey, Stiles.”

Stiles stands there with a look of shock on his face and Derek takes it as a moment to study his features. His hair is longer than Derek has ever seen it and it softly curves around his ears and neck. He’s got scruff now too. Not a full beard like Derek, but definitely an attractive amount. He’s the same height as him now too, which is weird because Derek always remembers Stiles being shorter than him. He looks stronger now too. All these things boil down to the amber eyes staring at him and Derek only has one thought. 

_ Stiles Stilinski is hot _ . 

Stiles takes in a sharp breath, “hey.” He smells confused, hurt, surprised, and annoyed. 

Derek is still too shocked to say anything more. “Hi.” 

“Yeah, we’ve established that.” Stiles says stiffly as he looks around and Derek realizes that they’re still in the middle of the rink. 

He points to the bleachers, “We should…” 

“Good idea.” 

Derek glides over to the opening of the wall and pulls himself on to the foam flooring below and looks back to see that Stiles followed. He actually followed. Stiles Stilinski is here with him. Why is his heart beating so fast? Stiles, on the other hand, looks anything but happy and he stands against the half wall and leans against it with his arms crossed. And holy shit. Arms. Derek likes arms now. 

“I didn’t know you were in town.” Stiles starts with a flat tone which sounds so wrong. Stiles is supposed to be full of so much emotion and energy. He’s not even tapping his fingers. 

Derek should’ve expected this really. As his excitement settles down, the weight of the situation comes flowing in. He basically threw away years of friendship with Stiles for one girl. “Uh, yeah. I decided to come back.” 

Stiles stares at him, his eyes hard and calculating. “I heard you and Kate broke up.” 

Shit. “Yeah, who tol--” 

“Cora.” 

He talks to Cora? “Oh.”

Stiles is just staring and Derek feels awkward in the silence. Usually Stiles was the one who filled the lull in conversations. “I think… I think it might be good though.” It’s the first time he says it outloud.

Stiles lets out a harsh breath, “you think?” 

Derek’s heart drops and he notes the anger rolling of the human. “Yeah. Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot and I was pretty shitty to you.” 

This surprises Stiles just as much as it surprises Derek. He hadn’t expected to say that. “Yeah. You kinda were.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“You’re sorry?” 

“I hurt you.” Derek is on a roll right now and he’s scared that if he stops right now, then he’ll never say it. “And I really regret it. And I miss you.” 

Stiles.exe seems to stop processing and he’s staring at Derek with an unreadable expression and then he suddenly bursts out with a laugh that sounds like music to Derek. It was a noise he didn’t realize was so important in his life until right now. He had access to it for almost his whole life and when he lost it, he had unknowingly been searching for it. 

“This is definitely how I didn’t think today was going to go.” Stiles gives a shy smile to Derek. 

“Oh god. Did I fuck it up?” 

Stiles laughs again and this time it’s a longer laugh and Derek feels like the sun is shining on him. “No! God, no! It’s just… Derek Hale is standing in front of me apologizing on my winter break.” 

“Winter break?” Derek echoes. 

“Well. Winter vacation, I guess since I've technically graduated.” He seems to read Derek’s confused eyebrows and explains. “George Washington University.” He mimics pulling out a badge, “FBI. Freeze.” 

That explains the muscle, Derek thinks and then Stiles laughs again. “Did I say that outloud?” 

“Yeah, buddy. You did. But thanks for noticing… I would’ve died in high school if you even looked at my muscle.”

It’s so easy. So damn easy to fall back into a conversation with Stiles. He figures it’s because they’ve been friends since they were in kindergarten, but he still blushes. “You would’ve?” 

“Oh, Derek.” Stiles sounds so much older. “I would’ve done anything to get your attention. I was kinda in love with you.”

Derek literally takes a step back. Who the hell just randomly says that after seeing someone after five years? “What?” 

“Over the moon, really. It was so obvious.” Stiles is smiling fondly at Derek and a small hopeful fire starts in his chest. “Cora and Laura gave me so much shit for it.”

“Oh.” Derek can’t help but smile back. The hopeful smile grows bigger and he thinks that maybe now is his chance to get something right. 

Stiles rubs the back of his neck in a familiar fashion. “Yeah, man. I was gonna even ask you to prom.” The friendly air between them falters. “Well, we know what happened instead.” 

“I never knew.” Derek says softly and he suddenly feels more like a dick for how he treated Stiles. 

Stiles clears his throat. “That was like a long time ago though.” 

Derek’s fire in his chest dampens, but not fully extinguishes. Stiles was going to ask him to prom? Thinking back on it now, though, he remembers how nervous Stiles had acted around him for that entire week and how disappointed he was when Derek announced he was going with Kate. 

“I thought you were going to go to Berkeley?” And Derek is definitely not as smooth as Laura when taking charge of a conversation. 

“I was!” Stiles sounds thankful for a different topic anyway. “Long story short, Scott and his dad made amends and then Mr. McCall offered that he could put in a good word for me and I figured, why the hell not? So I took him up on the offer and never regretted it.”

“That’s really good, Stiles.” And Derek means it. He really does. 

“You went to Berkeley right? Kinda ironic if you think about it. You wanted to go to the East Coast but stayed here and I wanted the opposite but went to the East.”

Derek lets out a bitter laugh, “I’m beginning to think I hate irony.” 

“She’s a tricky bitch, ain’t she?” Stiles’ tone sounds a little forced, like he’s done with the conversation but Derek’s not. Derek wants to stand here the whole day. 

Maybe it’s a sign that he sees Stiles so close to his birthday? Stiles was always so supportive on his birthday, and maybe he could be again. Derek just has to offer the olive branch. “So what are you doing later?” 

Stiles' body posture had been relaxing with their small talk but now it tenses back up. “Oh. Derek.”

As if on cue, another familiar scent fills the air and Derek turns to his left to see the Sheriff walking towards them with another man at his side. He’s shorter than Derek--and he guesses Stiles now--and he’s blonde with a crooked smile that seems to fall when he makes eye contact with Derek. 

“Well, I’ll be damned, if it isn’t Derek Hale.” The Sheriff grins as he gets closer and puts a hand on Derek’s shoulder. “It’s nice to see you, son.” 

His heart melts at the affectionate phrase and he can’t help but smile. “It’s good to see you too, sir.” 

“Sir.” The Sheriff laughs with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “I think you’re old enough to call me Noah.” 

Derek feels his cheeks redden out of embarrassment. “Yes, s-Noah.” 

He looks over to see the mystery man standing by Stiles now and giving him a confused look. Stiles is returning the look with a smirk and a wink and Derek doesn’t understand what’s happening. Stiles’ hand wraps around the mystery man’s waist and suddenly the world crashes around Derek. 

Oh. 

_ Oh. _

Stiles glances at Derek and takes pity. “Adam, this is Derek. Derek, this is Adam. My boyfriend.” 

The mystery man, Adam, stretches out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Derek!”

Derek takes his hand and it feels like he’s moving in slow motion. He needs to say something but he forgot how to form proper sentences. He’s too focused on what he feels for Stiles. It’s ten times stronger than whatever he felt for Kate and he’s only been talking to Stiles again for five minutes. The wolf inside him seems happier than he has been for years and he has an inkling it’s because of the human standing right in front of him. 

He’s suddenly aware that he’s been holding on to Adam’s hand for too long without saying anything. “Uh, nice to meet you too.” He says as he jerks his hand away like he’s been burned. 

“Stiles has told me a lot about you guys growing up together.” Adam beams at the now blushing Stiles and Derek hates that he’s not the direct cause of the blush. 

“These two were inseparable as kids.” The Sheriff steps into the conversation, giving Derek a side glance. “You could barely keep them apart for more than two days.” 

“That’s so cute.” Adam exclaims, leaning into Stiles. 

Stiles looks down at his boyfriend and Derek has never seen that look on Stiles before. He hates that he recognizes it as love. “Not as cute as you.” 

Derek wants to die. 

“Alright, lovebirds, get a room. Or at least go get me a pretzel.” The Sheriff shoves the couple towards the concessions. 

“You really think I’m going to let you have that much sodium?” Stiles challenges. 

The Sheriff shakes his head, “I was hoping you would spare me some Christmas spirit.” 

Stiles glares but eventually gives in. “Fine.” He looks at Derek. “It was… really good seeing you.” 

“Yeah, you too.” Derek manages to say. 

He watches Stiles move his hand to intertwine his fingers with Adam and pull him away. “That’s  _ the _ Derek Hale?” Adam whispers, probably not aware of Derek’s werewolf hearing. 

Stiles is however and just laughs. “Don’t worry, I’ve only got eyes for you now.”

Derek instantly stops listening and starts searching the ice for his sister’s form. He forgets that the Sheriff is even standing there until he says something. 

“I know that look.” The Sheriff says suddenly, looking cautiously at Derek.

“What look?” 

“The ‘ _ Shit-I-just-realized-I’m-in-love-with-you _ ’ look.” 

Derek’s heart beats loudly in his ears and he looks anywhere but the man beside him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Oh please. You Hales think you guys are lie masters because of your eyebrows. I’m a sheriff and also the father of Stiles. I know what lying looks like.” 

“I’m not in love with him.” Derek says but he doesn’t even convince himself and he finds himself sitting down on one of the benches. 

The Sheriff follows suit. “I tried telling myself that when I met Claudia too.” 

“I just got out of a long term relationship.” Derek admits, “I shouldn’t be falling in love with someone else! I should be, I don’t know, eating ice cream and sobbing.” 

“You know what that sounds like to me? You probably are in love with someone, but you just thought it was her all along.”

Derek places his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. “It’s all so confusing.” 

“Well, let me help you.” He places a hand on Derek’s back and Derek leans into the touch. “You can make it all less confusing if you just stay away.” 

Derek lifts his head and looks at the now stony face of the Sheriff. “What?”

“I’ve never seen Stiles as hurt as the day you started ignoring him. He moped for years, Derek.  _ Years _ . So, my advice? Stay away. He’s happy now with Adam and for the first time in his life, he’s not doing anything to try to impress you or try to gain your attention.” 

“Sheriff, I--” 

“I don’t care if you had no idea, son.” The term doesn’t sound so affectionate now and it sounds more like a warning. “Now you do and you’re not going to mess around with his emotions anymore, do you understand?” 

Derek nods. 

“I need to hear it, Derek. For my sake and for Stiles’. If you love him, you’ll stay away.” 

Derek trembles and takes a breath. “Yessir.” 

“Good.” The Sheriff stands up. “Merry Christmas, Derek.” He says in a cheerful tone like he wasn’t just threatening him. “Oh. And Happy Birthday.” He smiles and then walks off to the concession stand. 

Derek feels like he can’t breathe. He feels like he can’t focus on one emotion, it’s like his mind is a swirling tornado and every gust of wind batters against his heart. He doesn’t love Stiles. He can’t love Stiles… but he does. It makes so much sense now that he thinks about it. It’s the reason that he always asked for Stiles to stay the night--even on school nights--and how he always hung around Stiles on the weekends. It was like he needed to be around the human to be sane. 

He feels the familiar ache in his fingertips and he knows that he’s losing control. It’s a hell of a time to also figure out that Stiles is his anchor and he rushes towards the exit, praying that Laura sees him and follows. He finds himself in the back of the building and he lets his beta shift come out and he slides down the wall trying to keep in control. 

He’s not for sure how long he stays there but soon, Laura is right in front of him saying something, but he can’t focus. Her mouth is moving but no words are coming out. She reaches for him and he growls defensively which causes her to hold her hands up. He’s breathing heavily and he knows he needs to calm down but all he wants is Stiles. 

“Derek.” He finally hears Laura’s voice break through the storm in his head and he looks at her. “Mantra. Now.” Her eyes blaze yellow but he still hears the Alpha command. 

“Alpha. Beta. Omega.” The words are clumsy through his fangs but it’s something to focus on so he repeats it over and over and over again until his claws fade and his teeth feel blunt again. 

She waits until he’s officially calm before speaking again. “I heard everything.” Oh great. “I’m sorry.” She whispers and this time, when she pulls him in a hug, he doesn’t growl or pull away. 

He just sits there and lets her hold him. It doesn’t hurt like Kate and it’s what he needs to now officially know that he never did love her. The Sheriff’s right with that. “The Sheriff…” Derek mumbles. 

“Was honestly really rude.” Laura doesn’t let him finish. “Honestly, Stiles is a full ass grown man and he can make his own decisions.” 

Derek sighs. “Can we just go home?” Her pity scent is making him sick to the stomach and he just wants to be alone. 

She gives a sad smile and pulls him up. “Let’s get home.” 

  
  


Everything is a blur and the next solid thing he’s aware of is his pillow resting against his head and Laura and, surprisingly Cora, standing over him. 

“--ust figured he’s in love with Stiles.” Laura whispers. 

“Fuuuuck.” Cora isn’t as quiet and she seems to be aware that Derek is now fully aware of his surroundings. “Hey, there. How do you feel?” 

Derek groans. “I hate myself and I want to die.” 

“Oh, so weird. I feel the same way about you too.” 

“Cora!” Laura hisses. 

“It was a joke! Not funny?” 

Derek shoves his face into the pillow. “Can you two please just leave me alone?” 

“Yeah, gladly, but Mom sent me up here to give you a birthday cupcake.” 

On cue, he smells a lighter being lit and then the familiar scent of wax being lit with a wick. He pries his head from the pillow to see Cora awkwardly holding a misshapen cupcake. 

“Why does it look sat on?” Laura wrinkles her face. 

“We all know Mom sucks at baking.” 

All three siblings hum in agreement for the first time in five years. 

Cora holds the cupcake out to Derek. “Just make a wish, asshole.” 

Laura glares, “he just had his heart broken. Could you be any more tactless?”

“ _ Please _ make a wish, asshole.” 

Funnily enough, Derek smiles at this and he sits up. The candle’s flame looks a little off from usual candles, it holds almost a purple halo around it but he doesn’t say anything. It’s probably a left over trick candle from when Uncle Peter was into pranking his niblings. He stares at the candle and lets the last week wash over him. 

In less than seven days, his girlfriend had randomly broken up with him and kicked him out. He was forced to move back home to a family that seemed to not really want him. His bed was too small. And his former childhood best friend--who he just figured out he was in love with--was with someone else. Happy Birthday, Derek. It was a great week, really. The candle flickers and seems to mock him. He takes a deep breath and blows. 

_ I wish I could go back and fix this whole mess. _

The flame goes out in an instant and doesn’t light back up. Huh, not a trick candle then. Cora plucks it away from the cupcake and, instead of handing the desert to Derek, takes a bite of it instead. Laura screams something, but Derek can’t find himself caring. All he wants is a good depression nap so he can ignore the world for a while. He lays himself back down and is lulled to sleep by the sounds of his sisters arguing. 


	2. A Bad Dream

Derek wakes up to light streaming in through his window which is weird, because he’s pretty sure he fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon and he most definitely did not sleep for over twelve hours. He should get up and check, but instead, he’s too comfortable in his bed to move and he snuggles down deeper into his sheets.

Wait. When did his bed get so comfortable? Better question: Why does he feel like he actually  _ fits _ in the bed. He immediately sits up and takes in the full bedroom and now feels even more confused. His closet door is flung open widely and with closer inspection, Derek sees that it’s all the clothes that he used to wear in highschool; even his basketball jerseys. That’s… weird. His bookshelf is now full of every single book he owned and there’s no sign of dust and the floor is a mess between scattered items of clothing and shoes. 

“What the hell.” Derek swings his legs over the bed and runs a hand across his face and freezes. 

His beard. Where the fuck is his beard. He rubs his cheeks again and all he feels is smooth skin with the familiar twinge of a pimple forming on his chin. That’s not possible. Unless Cora decided to shave him in the middle of the night without waking him up somehow. 

Speaking of the devil, his sister pounds on his bedroom door. “Derrreeekk, I can hear you’re awake! Can you get around so we’re not late again?” 

Late? For what? He stands up and focuses on the other sounds in the house. There’s Cora stomping away from his room. There’s no Laura, but that makes sense since she lives with her husband. Mom’s in her bathroom getting ready for work while Dad’s doing the dishes in the kitchen. It’s all eerily familiar and it tugs at Derek’s memories. 

His room smells heavily of Stiles though and honestly, he doesn’t know how he didn’t notice that first. It’s like the human came in and rubbed his scent on everything Derek owned. It calms him and he’s pissed that it calms him. He should be hurt, or annoyed, or even jealous, not calm. 

The stomping comes back and Cora knocks on his door again. “I swear, Derek. I’m going to kill you.” She opens the door and Derek can’t help but stares. 

She’s a baby. Well, not in the literal sense, but she’s definitely not the nineteen year old version he had fallen asleep with. She’s barely even fifteen and she’s so  _ small _ . God, how did he forget how small his baby sister was? 

“Cora?” He asks, shocked. 

“Why are you just standing in the middle of your bedroom?” There’s no animosity or anger. There’s also no use of the word  _ asshole _ which Derek is thrilled about.

There’s a theory forming in his mind and he needs to test it. He pushes past her on the way out of his room to their shared bathroom and she follows him. He pushes the bathroom door all the way open and flicks on the light and faces the mirror. And… holy shit. 

_ Holy fucking shit. _

He’s young, probably around eighteen. If Cora looks like a baby, then he’s basically a toddler. He moves his head left to right just to make sure it’s actually his reflection and his mirror self follows. He lets out a small laugh and leans in closer to get a better look. There’s not even a trace of hair on his chin and he has to admit, he forgot what he looked like without even a five o’clock shadow. 

“Are you okay?” Cora asks, leaning against the door frame watching him with a weird expression. “Do I need to get Mom?” Her worry fills his nose. 

Derek finally looks away from himself and locks eyes with his baby sister. “What day is it?” 

She looks like she doesn’t want to answer, but she does anyway. “Wednesday?” 

God, he really is going to say the cliche, isn’t he? “No, Cor. What’s the date?” 

“April 6th, 2016.”

“2016.” Derek repeats slowly and he looks back towards the mirror with a crazed smile. 

Maybe the candle wasn’t a trick candle, but he’s pretty sure now that it was more than just an ordinary one. The purple hue should’ve told him that much, that it was magical or something, but he had just ignored it. But now? Now, he felt like he wanted to create a religion around the damn thing. It granted his wish. 

“Derek, you’re scaring me.” Cora brings him back to the present. 

He looks back at her and he has two choices here, but honestly, fuck one of the options. If he has a chance to rewrite the future, he’s going to do so. “Sorry, I just had a really realistic dream.” He’s gotten better at lying to his family over the years and he hopes that Cora doesn’t hear his heart skip. 

She obviously relaxes and smiles. “Oh thank god. I was worried you were going crazy or something.” 

Or something is right. Derek can’t help the grin from spreading wider on his face. “Nah, just happy to be here.” 

She eyes him suspiciously but doesn’t push any further. “Whatever, dork. Just hurry up and get around. I don’t want to be late again.” She leaves him. 

Derek vaguely remembers this. When he was a senior in high school, Cora was a freshman so it was his brotherly duty to take her to school every morning. It was also his duty as a teenager to sleep in until the last second though and constantly make them almost late for school. Laura had done the same thing whenever he was a freshman. Laura probably is finishing college right now. He looks at his reflection in the mirror and doesn’t even know where to begin. 

He figures clothes are a good place to start though and he moves back to his bedroom. He strips off his pajamas and leaves them on the floor, because he can again. He picks out just a pair of jeans and a red shirt before he moves back to the bathroom to finish the rest of his routine. Body memory takes over and soon his hair is gelled exactly how he used to do as a teenager and his teeth are brushed and deodorant is applied. 

Movie reality seems to let him down again as he recalls every single movie about time travel and how usually the protagonist tries everything in their power to get back to the proper time period. Not Derek, however. He actually wants to stay here and make things right; he’s not going to fuck it up this time. He’s going to stay close with his family. Avoid Kate at all costs. And Stiles. He’s going to make sure Stiles asks him to prom. And above everything, he’s going to make sure Stiles never is hurt by him again.

Derek finishes his routine by grabbing his backpack and running down the stairs where Cora is chatting to their dad. He doesn’t mean to, but Derek winces, remembering the rough conversation at the dinner table last night. Could it even be considered last night anymore? 

“Good morning, Derek.” His dad checks the time, “wow. You’re earlier than usual.” 

Derek shrugs, not for sure what to say. He doesn’t remember how he spoke as an eighteen year old which is crazy. It was only five years ago… or will be five years ago? “Thought maybe being on time is a good quality?” 

His dad looks confused. “Where did you learn that?” 

“Uh, Stiles?” 

Fondness stretches across the elder Hale’s face. “And here I thought that only that boy’s bad habits rubbed off on you. Is he coming over tonight?” 

Derek tries to remember this week as quickly as he can, but honestly his memory is pretty faded. He definitely remembers feeling excitement leading up to the pep rally and then excitement for prom; definitely nothing important about the days before. 

“It’s Wednesday, right?” Cora saves him. “Stiles always comes over on Tuesday for your  _ tutoring session _ .” 

“Right.” His dad winks at Cora. “Well, good. I like that one.” 

The phrase almost freezes Derek in his tracks completely as it echoes in his head. His dad… likes Stiles. His dad said that he only ever liked one person that Derek had brought home. That couldn’t be a coincidence. 

“I like him too?” Is what Derek manages to say and it rings odd in his ears. He definitely has a lot stronger feelings than like towards Stiles.

His dad laughs, “I hope so! He’s your friend. Now go to school before you say anything else embarrassing.” 

Relief floods Derek’s body and he doesn’t need to be told twice. He leaves the house without even looking behind him, already knowing that Cora is following. He grins at the site of his beautiful Camaro sitting in the driveway. He had sold it during his third year in college so he could help pay for the rent on the apartment. 

He runs his fingers along the hood and unlocks the door before sliding in. It smells so familiar and he takes it all in. The leather, the sandalwood air freshener, and of course Stiles. Stiles was all over the car too, just like his bedroom. How did Derek never realize how much Stiles was around before? 

“Do you need a moment with your car?” Cora asks, staring at Derek. 

He snaps himself out of it. “No. Nope. I’m good.” 

“ _ Are _ you?” 

He reaches up to the glasses compartment and slides his sunglasses on to his face. “Never better, baby sister.” 

“I think you became insane overnight.” 

Derek shrugs and pulls out of the driveway and takes the familiar route to the school. 

  
  


The moment he parks, Cora is halfway out the door and already yelling at one of her friends. Derek takes his time however and pulls his backpack out of the backseat before stepping out of the vehicle. The nostalgic sounds of high school float around him as he hears the mumbling of a multitude of different conversations. He sniffs the air and he’s assaulted by so many smells that he forgot about; mainly gasoline from the parking lot and B.O. from some students. He makes his way towards the school slowly, taking it all in. 

He’s not too excited about going back to classes, honestly, but he’ll take the bad with the good. The good? Well, that constitutes making sure that his life doesn’t become a walking disaster again. He pushes his way through the double doors and it feels like he’s simultaneously walking through a dream and a nightmare all at the same time. It’s slightly disorienting as he gets used to all the high school sounds again and he blinks a few times to bring everything back into focus. 

Blue lockers stretch along the hall on both sides and he realizes that he doesn’t remember what locker is his. He remembers the general vicinity of where it should be, but not the exact one let alone the combination to get in. So this might be harder than he originally thought. He doesn’t really  _ need _ his locker though; he has most of his textbooks in his bag. Luckily enough, he does remember his senior schedule though so that’s a huge relief. He has chemistry right off the bat which he cringes at; that’s one of the classes Stiles used to tutor him in. 

There’s old classmates--well, he figures they’re current classmates now--leaning against the lockers or walking the halls waiting for class to start and Derek has to pinch himself just to double check he’s not dreaming. He retraces the familiar path through the school, heading to the chemistry classroom. 

“Hale!” A voice shouts and he turns around to see Jackson Whittemore strolling up to him. “I expected your ass to be late like usual today.” 

He doesn’t like Jackson. He’s, in the fond words of older Cora, an asshole. Sadly, they run in the same circles though due to their athletics. Derek’s not even sure where the guy ended up after high school, but something tells him it’s probably at a gas station trying to hold on to his glory days.

“Whittemore.” He’s not really interested and starts walking again. 

Jackson follows. “Did you hear what happened with Greenberg?” 

“No.” He makes sure his tone gets his point across. He doesn’t even want to know. 

Jackson doesn’t get the point though. “The guy is flunking most of his classes  _ again _ . He’s going to be held back yet again. I can’t wait for Coach to find out.” 

Derek makes a hum in agreement, but he’s not really listening. Instead, he’s listening to the now familiar jumpy heartbeat that he hears in the other hall. “That’s nice.” Derek says offhandedly as he turns sharply, following the heartbeat. 

Warm vanilla hits his nose with familiar tones of earthy musk underneath and everything else fades away. All Derek can focus on is the teenager in the middle of the hall standing at his locker. There’s no noise. No other smells. Just Stiles. 

He really shouldn’t be surprised at how young Stiles compared to the older version that Derek ran into yesterday, but he is. In just ten minutes, Derek had gotten used to the longer hair, the sharper face structure, and the patchy facial hair. Now Stiles looks exactly how Derek remembers him. Wild hair gelled up in the front facing every direction. A face clear of hair to show off his moles and left over baby fat. Then there’s the plaid shirt hastily thrown over a random shirt that covers any muscle that teenage Stiles has. If adult Stiles Stilinski was hot, then the teenage version of him is cute. So very cute. 

“Hey, Stiles.” Derek says once he’s close enough. He feels his face heat up when he notices how pleased Stiles smells to see him. 

_ Over the moon, really.  _ And future Stiles was right. Now that Derek knows what to look for, he can see how obvious Stiles is with his feelings. The teenager’s cheeks are flushed red and he’s looking at Derek with stars in his eyes. How did Derek miss what was directly in front of him the first time? 

“Derek!” Stiles squeaks and glances towards someone beside him before looking back at Derek. “Hi.” 

Derek’s surroundings come more into focus and he sees that Stiles’ other friend, Scott, is standing next to him. Derek never really liked Scott, he always felt like he was dropping Stiles the moment he found some new girlfriend… but, isn’t that exactly what Derek did too? Maybe he has a lot more in common with Scott than he originally thought. 

“Hey.” Derek repeats, because Stiles,  _ his _ Stiles is standing right in front of him and doesn’t actively hate him. 

Stiles ducks his head back into his locker with a small smile, “I think we covered that.” 

Scott clears his throat, “I’ll see you later, dude.” He gives Derek a look and leaves without any further explanation. 

Stiles pulls a history book from his locker and shoves it into his backpack. “Sorry. He’s just on edge. Allison is still trying to decide between him or Issac and it’s driving him crazy.” Stiles rolls his eyes in an over dramatic manner.

Allison. Derek had forgotten about her too. She’s Kate’s cousin and they’re honestly nothing alike. Allison is like the yin to Kate’s yang in hair color and in personality. He likes Allison more, but he’s also slightly worried that she might end up like her manipulative cousin. 

“No, he’s okay.” Derek shrugs it off. He doesn’t want to focus on anybody but Stiles right now; everyone else can wait. “How are you?” 

“Honestly? Craving caffeine because your boy didn’t get much sleep last night.” He closes his locker and starts walking to class and Derek follows like a puppy. 

“Why weren’t you sleeping?” Derek’s heart is so happy that he’s pretty sure that it could explode at any second. 

Stiles blush creeps all the way to the back of his neck. “Planning.” 

Future-Stiles’ voice rings in his ear again, _ I was gonna even ask you to prom _ . “What were you planning?” Derek pushes, falling back into the familiar teasing role. 

“So many questions today.” Stiles comments, brushing their shoulders together and, huh, he really is the same height as Derek. 

“Just curious, I guess.” Derek stutters out. 

Stiles gives him a skeptical look as the first bell of the day rings. “What are you doing?” 

It catches Derek off guard and suddenly he panics. Of course Stiles would be the one to catch him in this weird time traveling lie. He tries playing it cool. “What do you mean?”

Skepticism morphs into confusion and worry on Stiles’ face. “You walked me to class.” 

“So?” 

“You never walk me to class. Plus, your first hour is all the way on the other side of the building.” 

Derek didn’t even realize. He was too wrapped up in just wanting to be by Stiles. “Oh.”

“Dude, are you feeling okay?” Stiles reaches out and feels Derek’s forehead. “Can werewolves get sick?”

Derek almost leans into the touch but stops himself. “Stiles, I’m perfectly fine. I just…” _ Made a wish on a magic candle that took me back to five years ago before I fucked everything up with you and my family.  _ “Thought I’d try something different today.”

Stiles takes his hand away and licks his lips and Derek can’t help but stare. “Oookaay?” He’s obviously not convinced. “See you at lunch?” 

“Right. See you then.” Derek steps back and takes in Stiles again. He can’t help but smile largely. “Bye.” 

“Go before you’re late, weirdo.” 

Derek leaves to go back to class, already counting down the hours until lunch again. It’s weird being eighteen again and actually having a schedule given to you as opposed to making your own. Even at the few jobs Derek worked in college, he still had some say of his hours and breaks. High school is a different story. 

By third period, he feels a headache forming in between his eyes. He desperately wants a break from sitting in the uncomfortable hard plastic chairs. He looks around to see if anyone else feels the same, but everyone is either staring at the board or on the papers in front of them. Derek looks at his own paper and gets another strange flood of deja-vu. Is it technically deja-vu if he did live through his already? 

It’s a pretest for a book the class is about to read. They would take a test over the book before reading it and then afterwards to see how much they learned. Derek never understood it. He has to laugh to himself because irony shows up again in the form of the topic of the pretest today:  _ The Time Machine _ by H.G. Wells. He remembers reading this the first time and he had actually really enjoyed it and so he fills out the answers easily. 

Fourth hour is the one right before lunch and he swears it goes the slowest. He barely can focus on Coach trying to teach about demand and supply. He’s going to see Stiles again soon and actually have a full conversation compared to the small talk before class started. He suddenly doesn’t know what he’s even going to talk about. The last conversation he had with Stiles five years ago was probably something about the pep rally. After that, there were only a few “heys” exchanged in awkward tension. He wants to blame Kate, but he knows that a lot of it was his fault too. 

Speaking of Kate, he sees the familiar blonde ponytail three desks in front of him and he feels a swell of emotions overwhelm him. There’s a weird confusion of hurt mixed with indifference but a small part of him still feels something for her. You don’t go five years with a relationship and automatically lose all feelings right after you break up. He hates the whirlwind of emotions and he glares at the blonde ponytail. 

It’s like she feels his gaze because she turns around and Derek hates that he thinks that even as a teenager, she’s still pretty. She makes eye contact with him and gives a small wave with pink coloring her cheeks. He instantly looks down at his desk and clenches his teeth. The confusion is over with just that one look and all he feels is anger. He squeezes his pencil hard enough that it snaps in his hand and he looks around to see if anyone noticed. Just one more hour. He can do this. 

When the bell rings, he’s out the door before the tone even stops trilling. He makes a beeline to Stiles’ locker and he finds it kind of funny that he knows where Stiles’ locker is instead of his own. He finds it easily and leans against it, waiting for the possible love of his life. 

Stiles shows up a few minutes later and Derek’s left over anger from seeing Kate completely melts away and a dopey grin washes over his features. “Hey.” 

Stiles smells of confusion again, but nevertheless, he smiles at Derek. “Hey!” Derek moves over and Stiles unlocks his locker. 

“Thank God for lunch. I’m pretty sure I watched four people fall asleep in Coach’s class.”

Stiles laughs and Derek wants nothing more than to hear that sound for the rest of his life. “That good of a morning, huh?” 

“Honestly, looking forward to lunch is the only thing that got me through it.”

Stiles blushes again and shoves a few of his books in his locker before closing it. “Okay then! Are we staying here or going somewhere then?” 

Derek hadn’t honestly thought this far yet. 

Stiles seems to read his facial expression like a second language and he doesn’t miss a beat. “Okay, fine. I’ll make the decision.” He thinks for a moment. “I want curly fries.” 

“You always want curly fries.” Derek wants Stiles in his car. He wants to be in a closer vicinity with each other. God, he has a problem. 

“They’re good, okay!” Stiles is already heading towards the doors. “Besides, you like hamburgers. It’s a win-win.” 

Derek rolls his eyes but follows Stiles to the parking lot and towards the Camaro. Stiles is rambling about how boring AP Chemistry is and how everyone in the class is annoying. Besides Lydia Martin. She’s apparently the only one who challenges him. Derek gladly listens as he unlocks the car and Stiles continues his rant as they head to their favorite fast food restaurant that’s near the school. 

“Hey,” Stiles’ rant voice is gone and in its place is a concerned tone. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re kinda acting like that one time where Uncle Peter had to babysit you that one weekend in eighth grade.” 

Derek remembers that. He had told his parents that he was old enough to stay alone for a weekend but they disagreed. Laura was spending the night at a friend’s and Cora… he doesn’t actually remember where Cora was. He was so pissed though that he tried acting on his best behavior the whole week before to try and convince his parents that he was mature enough to stay alone. 

“Yeah,” Derek sighs. “I just had a bad dream last night.” 

“Oh, shit, dude. Do you want to talk about it?” 

They stop at a red light and Derek risks a glance over to the human to see him looking at Derek with such compassion. “It was stupid really. I just dreamt that everyone hated me. You. Cora. My parents.” 

Stiles winces. “That’s rough, buddy.” 

“It was.” The light turns green and Derek turns his attention back to the road and then turns into the drive thru. 

“I’m serious, though. Dreams like that suck.” Stiles places a hand on Derek’s arm. “But trust me, I could never hate you.” 

_ Wanna bet?  _ Derek opts to order for the both of them from memory instead of replying. Stiles' scent surrounds him in the car and it calms him but there’s that small pang of guilt again. This version of Stiles is so young and naive. He pulls forward, pays for the food, and then hands the bag to Stiles as he starts driving back to the school. 

Stiles doesn’t waste any time and he digs into the bag to retrieve his curly fries. He shoves some in his mouth and he moans obscenely. “Thanks, man.” 

Derek lets himself smile and the guilt ebbs away. “You’re an animal.”    
  


“Says the one who actually can transform into a wolf.” 

“At least I have dignity.” 

“Wolf’s got jokes today.” Stiles mumbles around another handful of fries. 

Derek reaches into the bag while keeping his eyes on the road and pulls out a burger. “I’m always full of jokes.” 

“Yeah right!” Stiles lowers his voice, “I’m Derek. I scowl a lot and I rarely have a joke.” 

“I take offense to that.” Derek takes a bite of his burger. 

Stiles mimics him. 

He glares at him, but there’s no heat. He’s enjoying being teased for once. “How old are you?” 

“Derek Hale!” Stiles clutches his chest in fake shock, “you forgot how old I am? Now  _ I  _ am offended.” 

Derek pulls into the school parking lot and parks in a spot not too far away from the Jeep. And wow. That’s a weird sight to see after five years. Somehow, the poor piece of junk looks even worse than how he remembers. The tone shifts in the car for a moment and Derek realizes that Stiles’ chemosignals are radiating anxiety and his heart is pounding wildly. He looks at the human with an eyebrow raised. 

“It’s funny how you can have a conversation with those things.” Stiles rambles and it’s all nervous energy.   
  


Derek raises the other one. 

“Fine, Mr. Pushy.” Stiles pulls out his own hamburger and takes a large bite and takes his time chewing before talking. “So, the pep rally is in two days.” 

Derek blinks in surprise. He knows that it’s Wednesday, but he didn’t really realize how close the pep rally is. He has only two days before he fixes everything by rejecting Kate. “Are you thinking about going?” 

Stiles isn’t much of team spirit unless it’s encouraging Scott in lacrosse or Derek in basketball. The first time around, Stiles didn’t go to the pep rally. He said it sounded stupid and loud, but he had invited Derek over afterwards. Which Derek had skipped in favor of going to the party with Kate. 

Stiles makes a face. “Ew, no. Screaming jocks and school spirit? Sounds stupid, no offense.” He takes another bite and Derek follows, he might as well finish his lunch while Stiles stalls. “But… I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after?”

Derek doesn’t know why Stiles this question is causing so much nervous energy. “Sure.” He even offers a smile to calm Stiles’ heartbeat. “I could bring a movie over too.” 

Weirdly enough, Stiles’ heart beats even wilder. “That would be cool. Great! Perfect.” He grins and has ketchup on the side of his mouth. 

Without even thinking, Derek leans in slow motion and he watches as Stiles’ eyes widen and the scent of arousal is almost suffocating. He wipes the sauce away with his thumb and stares a few seconds at Stiles lips before pulling away again. He’s definitely blushing, he can feel the heat burning his cheeks at the back of his neck. Stiles isn’t faring much better and he looks practically sunburnt. He’s speechless and Derek has never seen the human speechless before. 

“You had--” Derek tries explaining himself. 

“Scott!” Stiles finally squeaks. “I just remembered. I was gonna meet up with him before fifth period.” He’s basically throwing himself out of the car door and he nearly faceplants in the process. He’s looking at Derek with a mixture of confusion and surprise. “Food for thanks?” Derek thinks he broke Stiles. “I’ll see you tonight for tutoring?” He doesn’t even wait for the answer before he slams the door and runs off. 

Derek watches him go. “I love you.” He says to the figure now running into the building. There’s ketchup still on his thumb and he wipes it off with a spare napkin. 


End file.
